Method of forming records in record cards or the like, particularly for use in statistical or like machines



Aug. 7, 1934. G s nm- AL 1,969,332 METHOD OF FORMING RECORDS IN RECORDCARDS OR THE LIKE, YARTICULARLY FOR USE IN STATISTICAL OR LIKE MACHINESFiled Aug. 26, 1931 jazdanlow JV 671371117X 5A .ZZQMAS ployed in thetabulating machine.

Patented Aug. 7, 1934 METHOD OF FORMING RECORDS IN REC- RD CARDS OR THELIKE, PARTICULARLY FOR. USE IN STATISTICAL 0R LIKE MA- CHINE S NewtonGerard Smith,

Amersham, and Arthur Thomas, Thornton Heath, England, assignors 'to TheAccounting & Tabulating Corporation of Great Britain Limited, London,England Application August 26,

In Great Britain 13 Claims.

This invention relates to methods of and apparatus for perforating andverifying record cards for use in statisticalor like machines.

As the invention relates chiefly 'to the treatment of record cards foruse in statistical machines, its application to such cards will bereferred to by way of example throughout this description.

In the employment of statistical machines, it is usual to perforaterecord cards differentially with record holes denoting data recorded inan original entry.

These holes are punched in a machine termed a perforating machine,usually comprising a key board, the keys of which are operated toactuate punches.

The card is ultimately used in a tabulating machine, which is a machinewhich translates the. holes into printed ciphers reproducing on a 1 6printed sheet a copy of the original data.

Before thecards are used in the tabulator, the holes which have beenpunched in the record card have to. be verified, that is checked againstthe original data before they are em- Sometimes this is done by a visualinspection of the cards.

It has also been proposed to verify the cards by placing them on aperforated plate, the perforations of the plate corresponding tothe pos-3o sible number of perforations on the card, means being provided forcovering certain of the perforations in the plate according to the dataof the original entry.

Lighting means are arranged under the plate, so that if the card iscorrect all holes are obscured, if incorrect the light shows throughincorrect holes, in which latter case the card has to be verified bycomparing it with the original data and either making a new card orcorrect- 4 ing the old card by making the full perforations necessary sothat the record is correct.

Generally speaking it' may be stated that punching the records hasheretofore been one distinct step, and verifying a' second distinct 5step. In accordance with the present invention verifying as such isentirely eliminated,

According to the present invention a method of producing individualrecords on a record card or the like particularly for use in statisticalmachines consists in forming the individual records in a plurality ofrecording stages (e. g. two) complementary to each other.

By such a method of producing the records the occurrence of an error byway of incorrect l. as punching or .the omission to punch in one or1931, Serial No. 559,470 September 26, 1930 other stages will beimmediately obvious on sight of the card as the record Will either beincomplete or of an incorrect shape.

Complementary punching according to the invention may be effected byproducing the normal round perforation in two stages, for instance, bypunching a semi-circular perforation in the first stage and the otherhalf of the hole in the second stage. If, at the end of the stages ofperforating the cards, any half circular perforations are visible, thecard contains an error.

In further modifications punching machines as at present employed may beused for obtaining the usual round hole, and then the sec-- ond punchingoperation may produce a slight irregularity in the hole. For instance,the finished record hole may be of the shape which resembles the sectionof a feathered shaft if the second punching is done with a rectangularpunch.

In another form the first punching may be done in a machine with punchesof a smaller diameter than those usually employed and the secondpunching operation done with a larger punch, namely one of the normalsize, but in such case viewing the cards would only detect errors ofomission, namely errors constituted by punching in the wrong holes. Asit is essential to detect errors of omission it is preferred inconstructions according to the invention to employ machines forcomplementary punching, which leaves holes of a shape differentiatingbetween correct punching and incorrect punching.

By themethodsaccording to the invention a perforation obtains by reasonof the two punching stages. If they agree, then the punching is correctand checked; if they do not agree then the card has to be referred tothe original data to see where the first punching operation wasincomplete or incorrectly effected, and then the second stage punchinghas also to be verified.

. Alternatively, the shape of a record may be defined as a plurality ofspaced apart holes of the sameor different shape and/or size, punched ina plurality of recording stages complementary to one another. Forexample, a record may comprise two spaced apart perforations of similarshape and size, one of which is punched in the first stage and the otherin the second stage, whereby punching in both stages is correct whenthe'pair of perforations appear, and punching in one or other of thestages is incorrect when one of the perforations is missing.

Apparatus for punching according to the present invention may bemachines of the type described in British patent specifications Nos.328,281; 328,255; 328,285, 321,952, and 321,953, two such machines beingusually employed for carrying out the punching operation, one machinehaving one part of the punch and the other machine the complementarypart, thereby punching is effected and a comparison attained byemploying the skilled operatives of punching machines during punchingoperations, whilst the final viewing may be efiected by unskilled handswhich merely have to look out for holes of wrong shape, which mosteasily and satisfactorily can be effected by viewing the back of thecards.

Instead of employing two separate machines with different size punches,exactly similar machines such as described in British patent specifications Nos. 328,281; 328,255, and 328,285, may be used for each ofthe complementary punching operations by merely varying the feed of thecard to one of two machines of normal type, so that the one punchingoperation is slightly ofiset to the other, whereby a hole of irregularshape obtains where the punching in the second stage conforms exactlywith a punching in the first stage.

By this arrangement the individual records are formed by contiguousoffset perforations, the shape or size of which depends on the shape orsize of the punches employed.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one form of apparatus, by way ofexample, for varying the feed of the cards to the punches of a punchingmachine, so that offset punching may be obtained.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an adjustable stopplate for the cards, on the discharge side of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a side view showing the throw of the eccentric of the stopplate of Fig. 1 the operating mechanism being removed for clearness.

With reference now to the drawing, a card is fed as customary betweendie plates 1, 2 containing many perforations as it is possible to makein a card, while 3 is a vertically reciprocating stop plate on thedischarge side of the machine, which positions the card beneath thepunches 4.

In order to adjust the feed the reciprocating stop plate 3 is madeadjustable by mounting the plate to pivot on a vertically reciprocatingmemher 5 for the stop plate, by means of a spring 6 engaging in a recess'7 of the lever 5, the plate 3 being slotted as at 8 to engage over themember 5 as shown.

To rotate the stop plate 3 about its pivot a rod 9 extendingtransversely of the machine and rotatably mounted in brackets 10 on theframe of the machine is provided and eccentrically mounted on the rod 9are a pair of levers 11 pivoted at their free ends 12 to right-angledbrackets 13 on arms 14 of the stop plate 3. The rod 9 at one end, isprovided with an operating knob 15 and has mounted thereon against thebracket 10 a setting plate 16, having recesses 17 and 18 adapted to beengaged by a roller 19 on the end of a spring pressed lever 20 pivotallymounted on the bracket 10. In the normal position of the parts as shown,the roller 19 is resting in the recess 18 and the top ends of the arms14 of the stop plate 3 are in the vertical position giving a normal feedof the card. Rotation of the knob 15 in the direction of the arrow B inFig. 1, lifts the roller 19 out of the recess 18, rotates the rod 9 andthereby due to the eccentric mounting of the levers 11 moves the stopplate 3, about its pivot point into a position as shown by the dottedlines in Fig. 2, the limit position of the parts being determined by theroller 19 dropping into the recess 17 under the action of the springcontrolling the lever 20.

The spacing of the recesses around the plate 16 is such as to permitonly of the proper rotation being given to the rod 9 to ensure that thetop ends of the arms 14 are displaced the correct amount and accurateoffsetting of the cards obtaining.

In this position of the parts, the top ends of the arms 14 are displacedfrom normal and consequently a card is arrested only when it hasprogressed between the plates 1, 2 to a greater extent than normally,and thus offset punching of the card is effected.

It will be understood that the stop plate 3 is reciprocated verticallyat the proper time in a cycle, in well known manner from the main shaftof the machine, the stop plate being lowered subsequent to punching topermit of the card being passed to the eject feed rollers ER which feedthe cards to a suitable receptacle (not shown).

In further modifications of carrying the present invention into effectone of the punching operations may be substituted by a printingoperation, preferably effected in a machine having keys of exactly thesame nature as in the punch. The printing may be effected on the back orfront of the card, or both, and then either the previous or subsequentpunching operation efiected.

Where the printing and punching operations agree a ringed hole willresult, but where they disagree an unringed hole is produced, or a ringwithout a hole is shown.

Instead of printing a ring a spot may be printed.

Further, the invention may be applied to the production of cards whichare read by sensing apparatus involving the employment of actinic light,that is to say, the reflection or non-re flection of the light from thecard determines, by varying the resistance in electrical circuits, the

operation of members of which there is one for every possible positionon the card.

Accordingly the invention covers not merely the production of a recordcard in two stages in which the records are produced by perforatedholes, but any form of record card in which the records are produced intwo stages whereby one checks the other.

It will be understood that although the invention has been describedmore particularly with reference to forming the records in two stages,such records may be formed in a greater number of stages if required,although for practical reasons and also due to the fact that the objectof the invention is achieved by the use of two stages only, thepreferred embodiment of the invention forms the records in two stages.

What we claim is:-

1. A method of producing individual records on a record. card or thelike particularly for use in statistical machines consisting in formingthe individual records of two concentric perforations each of which ispunched in one of two recording stages.

2. A method of producing individual records on a record card or the likeparticularly for use in statistical machines consisting in forming theindividual records of spaced apart perforations punched in a pluralityof complementary recording stages.

3. A method of producing individual records on a record card or the likeparticularly for use in statistical machines consisting in forming theindividual records of spaced apart perforations punched in twocomplementary recording stages.

4. A method of producing individual records on a record card or the likeparticularly for use in statistical machines consisting in forming theindividual records of two spaced apart perforations respectively punchedin one of two complementary recording stages.

5. A method of producing individual records on a record card or the likeparticularly for use in statistical machines consisting in forming theindividual records of spaced apart perforations of a predetermined shapepunched in a plurality of complementary recording stages.

6. A method of producing individual records on a record card or the likeparticularly for use in statistical machines consisting in forming theindividual records of spaced apart perforations of a predetermined sizepunched in a plurality of complementary recording stages.

7. A method of producing individual records on a record card or the likeparticularly for use in statistical machines consisting in forming theindividual records of spaced apart perforations of a predetermined shapeand size punched in a plurality of complementary recording stages.

8. A method of producing individual records on a record card or the likeparticularly for use in statistical machines consisting in forming theindividual records of contiguous ofiset perforations punched in aplurality of recording stages.

9. A method of producing individual records on a record card or the likeparticularly for use in statistical machines consisting in forming theindividual records of contiguous ofiset perforations punched in tworecording stages.

10. A method of producing individual records on a record card or thelike particularly for use in statistical machines consisting in formingthe individual records of two contiguous offset perforationsrespectively punched in one of two recording stages.

11. A method of producing individual records on a record card or thelike particularly for use in statistical machines consisting in formingthe individual records of contiguous offset perforations of apredetermined shape, punched in a plurality of complementary recordingstages.

12. A method of producing individual records on a record card or thelike particularly for use in statistical machines consisting in formingthe individual records of contiguous offset perforations of apredetermined size punched in a plurality of recording stages.

13. A method of producing individual records on a record card or thelike particularly for use in statistical machines consisting in formingthe individual records of contiguous offset perforations of apredetermined shape and size punched in a plurality of recording stages.

N. GERARD SMITH. ARTHUR THOMAS.

